All who leak classified information should be prosecuted. We should stop allowing politicians to violate the law with impunity.
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Ed nails it, as usual. When we signed up for Military service, we didnât swear to defend against âsome enemies, occasionally, as long as we really donât like them, mostly.â Same with classified. You agree to protect it, period. You donât store it at home, transmit it in the clear, or carry it around unauthorized, and you sure as hell donât hand it off to a media outlet because you âfeel obligated.â
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Color me in the block âagainst unauthorized release.â Just because I THINK I am all knowing about all facts on a programâŚI realize there is what I know and what I donât know and things I donât know I donât know. There are many things in life on the surface appearing to be badâŚdig a few power point slides deepâŚand you see that you didnât have all the information necessary to truly have an informed opinion. Have there been grave moral wrongs committed in the name of national security? I have no doubt there have been. But just maybeâŚwe donât always have all the information and we are not at a high enough architectural view to know that. Justifying leaks because you âfeelâ something is wrongâŚisnât the right thing to do. And relying on an advocacy piece on Netflix and trusting they arenât spinning a story to make moneyâŚwellâŚthat isnât too smart either.
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Can agree @amberbunny. A clearance puts you in a position of trust, and that trust goes both ways. They trust you not to divulge secrets, and you trust them that it is in the interest of the United States to hold that secret.
Itâs a matter of professionalism, as I see it. You put your personal feelings aside to do a job. If a clearance holder canât any longer abide by that situation, then they should seek other employment.
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Sorry, but I disagree. Classified information should never be made public. It is classified because itâs release can cause harm to national security.
Do you believe that the only reason that information is ever classified is that itâs release can cause harm to national security? Is information never classified primarily because itâs public release might undermine public support for a certain policy, reveal waste, fraud, and abuse, or cause embarrassment to public officials?
I believe it isnât my concern to wonder. As a clearance holder, the rules are quite clear. If you canât follow them you shouldnât have a clearance. Period.
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This is spot on accurate.
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